The Gbeanquois family needs your support!

The Gbeanquois family is urgently seeking to raise $3,500 before mid-June to fund Dixon’s upcoming travels to Tanzania and Liberia. 

In their latest newsletter, the family expresses gratitude to those who have already contributed to Dixon’s Africa trip over the past three weeks. 

However, additional funding is still needed for this significant international journey from the United States.

“We can raise the remaining money needed to make this trip successful. In the previous two weeks and some days since we mentioned this trip, we have received a donation of $2,135 toward the $5,635 needed for the journey. We are still in need of $3,500. We have three more weeks before Dixon embarks on this trip, and we firmly believe that God is touching the hearts of many of you to donate to get Dixon to his target of raising the rest of the $3,500 that is remaining,” they explain.

Trip details and financial breakdown

The total budget for Dixon’s six-week African journey is $8,135. To date, he has successfully raised $4,635, leaving a remaining balance of $3,500 to be collected before his departure.

Dixon’s travel plans were announced several months ago, with the trip scheduled to begin in mid-June (18th) and conclude in early August (5th). The itinerary includes visits to both Tanzania and Liberia, marking a significant return to regions where the family previously served.

Background and context

It has been nearly four years since the Gbeanquois family was forced to leave Tanzania abruptly to return to their home countries to obtain visas for entry to the United States. The missionary family had originally planned to return to Tanzania after receiving their visas to properly transition the mission fields and various projects they had been managing before their departure to America.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic created significant disruptions and challenges that prevented their planned return to Tanzania. The resulting travel restrictions and global chaos forced the family to relocate directly to the United States from Nigeria, rather than completing their intended transition work in Tanzania.

“Therefore, now that Dixon is halfway through his studies, this is a good time for him to visit Tanzania and then travel to Liberia to see some of the work the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Liberia is doing and how he can contribute to it moving forward,” they highlight.

How to support

Individuals, organizations, or anyone interested in supporting the Gbeanquois family’s mission work are encouraged to contribute by clicking on this link. 

“Every contribution, big or small, makes this trip a reality,” add the missionaries.

An emotional “earthquake” for “Divina Providencia”

By Moisés G. Hernández

“An emotional earthquake.” That’s how Pastor and missionary Adrián Ventura described the situation of the Lutheran congregation Divina Providencia, in Santiago, Chile.

Despite being one of the largest congregations in the country, with over 50 members, it no longer has a building. Due to limited financial resources and the high cost of real estate in Santiago, it has become very difficult to rent—let alone purchase—a place to worship God.

Pastor Adrián’s diagnosis is a fitting play on words. Divina Providencia’s home is one of the most seismically active countries in the world.

But, as the reader may have guessed, this shake-up has nothing to do with the restless tectonic plates of this southern land.

Timeline of events

It all began on January 10, 2025.

As Pastor Adrián shared in his latest newsletter, the congregation was informed that it would need to vacate the property it had occupied for over five years by March. There simply weren’t enough funds to cover the nearly $2,000 monthly rent.

The property was a fairly spacious house that, for a time, also served as temporary housing for immigrants sponsored by our organization. It also hosted the GLO Chile offices.

In the backyard stood a modest temple that was affectionately compared to Israel’s tabernacle.

The wooden temple was dismantled on February 22 with the help of a volunteer team from the sister church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina (IELA).

All of the church’s furnishings were distributed among members for safekeeping until a stable location is found.

In the meantime, as of April 27, Divina Providencia holds its Sunday services at a local community center near their former property. But it’s not free. Renting the space for just a few hours a week costs about $300 per month.

“Many people don’t like having to go through changes in life: a new job, a new home, a new family member, an illness, and many others. One reason is our comfort zone, which makes us feel safe, content, and secure. But in life, the only certainty we have is that change will come,” Pastor Adrián shared in his newsletter.

A time of testing

Without a doubt, Divina Providencia is experiencing a true emotional earthquake.

“It’s a time of testing, but we trust that God will provide a permanent place for our congregation in His time,” Pastor Adrián also wrote.

We invite you to pray that Divina Providencia finds a permanent space to gather—and that, while they wait, the members remain united, steady, patient, and confident in the Lord who can do all things.

How family builds faith—and faith builds family

In his latest newsletter, missionary David Ernst shares a touching story from La Caramuca, Venezuela—how one family’s faith journey has grown across generations, and how their faith has, in turn, strengthened their family bonds.

On Easter Sunday 2025, Alfonso Torres was officially received into church membership. But Alfonso is no stranger to the Lutheran community—nor is his family. In fact, five of his children were among the first to be baptized in the mission on March 25, 2007: Yexi Karina, Deisy Yovana, Yaneth Andreina, Yovanny Javier, and Jhonny Alexander.

Pastor David explains that Yaneth was the youngest at 18 months. Deisy brought Yaneth to our Sunday school classes and, from 2 to 6 years of age, Yaneth was a student in our preschool. Deisy and Yovanny received first communion on October 25, 2009 (Reformation Sunday). Jhonny received first communion on October 31, 2010 (again Reformation Sunday). 

Alfonso and his wife, Maria Cecilia, welcomed another daughter, Diana Carolina, and she was baptized on January 8, 2017 (the dedication of their current sanctuary). Diana also would attend their Sunday school and preschool. She received first communion on October 31, 2021.

Deisy’s daughter, Emely Antonella Estrada Torres, was baptized on December 24, 2017. Two more of Alfonso and Maria Cecilia’s grandchildren, Jesuly and Josué Fernández Torres, were baptized on January 6, 2019. They received Maria Cecilia into membership by reaffirmation of faith on September 15, 2024.

“The Torres are an example of how family can strengthen the faith and faith can strengthen the family. The great outflow of people from Venezuela has had a devastating effect on many marriages, which have not survived lengthy separations. Of the Torres children, only Yaneth and Diana remain in La Caramuca, but we give thanks to God that they have a home with both parents present and a church home in our mission,” Pastor David reflects.

This testimony is perfectly captured in the words of Joshua 24:15: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Follow the Ernsts’ ongoing mission by subscribing to their monthly newsletter.